Pho Banh Mi Che Cali

Deserves 0 stars.
Why is this place even open? What place doesn’t know what they put in their own food? Why does the chicken taste like crab? Is this place even fresh? Probably the only place I feel like I need to throw up after eating.
I eat phở ga all the time and I have to say… this place is an outlier that brings down the overall deliciousness of OC phở. I would expect the majority of the phở places here in Westminster/​little Saigon to be at the LEAST decent… But I really … REALLY DON’T know about this place.
I ordered a phở ga dry because it was too hot for the soup in this 102* weather. They put some foreign sauce on my noodles; so I figured I’d asked what was in the sauce. I saw that there was some… Meat chunks in the sauce so I asked those at my table to confirm wether it was meat & what kind. My mother and uncle believed this was Pork meat; and I get allergic reactions, so I decided to just ask an employee because they should know what’s inside the food that they serve…
Boy was I wrong! I guess it’s also foreign to those in their kitchen too.
Why would you serve your customers something like that?
It’s ridiculous because we even ordered water and it never came out. And for the record he had a notepad which he used to write down all our orders… Yet he still forgot what we ordered
So many workers for a place that sucks so bad. Usually good customer service will make up for the lack of taste; but… Unfortunately not this time.
Just don’t even go here. There’s no point.
Banh mi Che Cali should stick to selling Banh mi.
Imma give the workers a little break, thanks for being cooperative… But heads up please go find a new place to work because I predict this joke of a a restaurant is gonna run out of business soon.

This is the worse place for banh mi I have ever tasted. Wasted money on this sandwich today let alone the coffee. Nothing is fresh at this place, majority of the food they sold to customer are probably from last night. If you are going to have a grand opening and wants the customer to try out he place, at least cook or make fresh food. I rather spend money at another sandwich place more than here. Every banh mi che Cali doesn’t look clean and not fresh food. I didn’t realize it’s part of banh mi Che Cali.

Not a bad place to stop by for quick and inexpensive food. The place could definitely use a cleaning more regularly. The food is pretty standard, nothing fancy, but nothing terrible. All in all its what you would expect for the price. I do appreciate how nice they have been in their service, though. Although service only lasts for the initial order, they are honest if you ask for recommendations, and are not pushy.

Something quick and easy. You need to keep in mind that this place is totally Vietnamese and you practically have to fight to get your order in and to pay. People just don’t understand the concept of getting in line and wait for your turn.

I ordered the vegetarian spring roll (low carb); rice paper, lots of iceberg lettuce, one long piece of cucumber, few bean sprouts, a little bit of vermicelli noodles, and a slither of tofu. Without the peanut sauce and chili paste the spring roll is very bland. Most places use a lot of noodles but this place uses lots of lettuce; few carbs! The best and lowest costing vegetarian spring roll is Lee’s sandwich. Mitase has a really good spring roll (flavorful fried tofu with avocado) but it’s a bit pricey.

I was pretty disappointed with this place today. I’ve been here before but I’ll unlikely come back again after today. We had a young guy with a stud earring on one ear help us. Actually, let me rephrase that. NOT help us. He delivered our food, with no utensils and napkins!!! We had to wait around until another waiter came by. My dads meal was served first, no utensils and no sauce. Second time he came around it was my moms food and still no utensils! What the heck is wrong with this guy? Again, we had to ask another waiter. We also wanted to add on the beef stew with bread but they said they were out of bread. Very disappointing. I got phở and it felt like it was 60% noodles, 35% noodles and 5% meat. Soooo much noodles for a bowl of phở that outweighed everything. The meat was also overcooked.
Lastly, I was about to exit the door, the not-​so-​smart waiter that forgot the utensils entered the door in and couldn’t even be a gentleman enough to open it for me or leave it open. He just walked in and the door slammed back. I wish I took a picture of this guy or asked his name but I wanted to get out of the place after the bad experience. I wanted to rate this place one star but because the last time I went here it was a pleasant experience compared to today’s experience.

Horrible service … Me and my friends came in here after some late night basketball and I had asked the manager to heat up a food item to which she responded «no» this is not a way to treat a paying customer.

Located at a very busy plaza (same as giant vietnamese grocery store, boiling crab, boba shop), parking can be tough. Inside, there is a hot food section upfront — lots of vietnamese style meats, veggies and stews sitting underneath heat lamps. You can get three items with rice for only $ 4.50! But it doesn’t look very fresh, so I opted for the beef stew ($ 6) and pan-​fried pork chop over rice with egg over easy, to-​go.
The beef stew (bo kho) was ok. I appreciated all the cuts of beef (tendons, chewy pieces, soft pieces) but the flavor was not there. It seemed too thick. Comes with one loaf of french bread.
The pork chops and egg were on point! The meat was flavorful, and the egg, although slightly overcooked, was soo good! Huge servings, and it even comes with a small bowl of phở broth — all for $ 6. I’d totally get this again.
The packaged spring rolls were a miss. DO NOT GET THIS. Its looks plump on the outside with shrimp and pork, but when you bite into it, it’s mostly old veggies. I could tell it was old because they bean sprouts and shredded lettuce were turning brown.
Also ordered the «buy-​one-​get-​one free» boba. Milk tea with egg pudding and plain green tea. All bogo drinks are pre-​made in fountain dispensers by the cash registers. I probably wouldn’t get this again.
Overall, I really liked the pork chop dish, but everything else was underwhelming to disappointing.

Have been there many times enjoyed the PHO but tonite a get there 8:50 they close at 9:00 asked if I could sit down I would be finished by 9 and out of there ! First she said do you know what you want? Then squinted and said usually we don’t let people eat this close to closing? why are you in the food business? Then close at 8:45 !! Won’t everrrrrrr be back again AG.

Came here for the first time and the food is great for the price. I ordered the free range chicken phở special, which was $ 4.17…and a very generous portion. You can’t beat that. The restaurant is clean and they have a variety of «to go» items readily available for those in a hurry… where you get rice and choose 3 items all for $ 4.50. They also have vietnamese coffee for $ 2.00…which is cheap compared to other places. The atmosphere is casual and comfortable with a diverse group of customers. Anyone and everyone would feel welcomed.

Location: This used to be the Phở Bolsa that took over this place for decades. There is now a drive thru, which is the first where you can order Vietnamese food on the go (except for Lee’s Sandwiches across the street). Parking is VERY difficult on the weekends especially Saturdays so avoid that day. They also have another location in Fullerton.
Hours: 7 AM — 9 PM everyday.
Prices: less than $ 10 per person. Min for credit card: $ 10
Ambiance: This is the typical Vietnamese restaurant. You come in and self seat yourself. Someone comes over with a menu. That same person leaves for less than 1 minute and comes back and you order. After you are done eating, you go to the cashier and pay. They also have a take-​out portion near the cashier.
What to get, or not:
Free range chicken phở ($.4.17): This is also called Phở Ga Di Bo. Where you can you get free range chicken phở for under $ 5? Here. The bowls are huge, and they give you a great portion of noodle and soup. The chicken is not powdery since it is free range. The broth is mild, but not bland.
Broken Rice ($ 5.50): This is also called Com Tam. Best deal in town as well. This actual comes with real broken rice, unlike a lot of places that claim to serve broken rice. The grill pork steak is tear and not tough at all. I love the egg cake here since they use a lot of egg. As a Viet, I really wish the fish sauce was a little stronger since it tasted like water and sugar. **FOODIE STAMP OF APPROVAL**
Bird Nest Fried Noodles with Seafood ($ 6.95): This is also called Mi Xao Don Do Bien. The noodles were good, very crispy. The noodles maintained it crispiness throughout the entire meal, which is very important for this dish. Most other places, the noodles are either not fried well enough or the noodles are not more tightly knit so the noodles become soggy very quickly. The sauce was too bland for my taste and did not have a lot of vegetables. I do not recommend this dish.
Pan Fried Rice Noodles ($ 6.95): This is also called Phở Ap Chao. This is made from the same rice noodles as the phở and they fried it with some kind of frying dough. The end result is that it looks like a pancake with rice noodles. You need to eat this quickly or it will get hard. I had difficulties biting into the noodles itself. Too much work for food, which is not my style. The sauce is also bland.
Family Style Meals ($ 8/​person): This requires a minimum of 2 people. comes with a big bowl of sweet and sour catfish soup (ca chua), which is my favorite. However, they make it kind of salty here. It comes with a big bucket of rice to share. You get to pick two homestyle Vietnamese dishes including Pepper & Salt Jumbo Shrimps (recommended), braised pork (recommended), or braised catfish (recommended). I love homestyle Vietnamese food, so I will definitely be coming here again.
Take out special ($ 4.95): This is the same as the family style meal but for one person. However, you cannot eat it here, hence the take out special pricing. I will definitely come here if I’m just eating alone and want take out. This is such a good deal! However, the takeout counter does not look as fresh as the dishes they prepare in the restaurant though since the food is just sitting at the counter all day.
Boba ($ 2.50 for 2 drinks): best deal in town for boba drinks. The boba is chewy and prefect. You can choose between: milk tea, green tea, or milk green tea. You get up to two types of toppings: boba, green jelly, pudding, or red bean. I just opt for the boba since I do not like that many toppings. **FOODIE STAMP OF APPROVAL**
Overall: 3.5 out of 5. Although it is not the highest quality food, this is a lot of bang for your buck. Solid Vietnamese food on a budget.

There are 5 menu items that are 40% off regular price. Some items include Hu Tiu /​Mi Nam Vang, Hu Tiu My Tho, Com Tam Bi Suong Cha, My Wonton, and Chao Long. The Hu Tiu Nam Vang that I ate was very basic. My family ordered every item but not the chao long. I tasted some My Wonton and it gave me the basic impression as well. I saw my other family members ate the Com Tam Bi Suong and I noticed that the cha did not have any pork in it. I just saw egg throughout the consistency mixed in the cha. Quite sad to see. Never seen such mediocre quality with cha especially compared to the city that I am from that makes much better Vietnamese food.